Blathesbane
"Blathesbane", meaning 'shadows' bane' is a party of adventurers that banded together before the time of the loss of Minnerthal in Sephel of the year 3312 E.S., and has remained together since that day. Their current "home" is a wooden house they dubbed the Emerald Hold, located in the Forest of Idris a few miles from Sernos in western Velarya. Members Elowin and Lucian A half-elven woman hailing originally from Ampora, who originally struck a pact with the eidolon Umbra without realizing it, Elowin came into possession of her companion Lucian through this pact. Ozthus This monk adept in the following of Majere grew up on the streets of Tiv, his tiefling heritage making life a bit difficult for him. After he accidentally murdered a nobleman while trying to steal from him, Ozthus fled the city, fearing for his life. He met Abbot Sulimar on the road, and came to Minnerthal with him, learning the ways of Majere. Ado Ado's life was happy once - he had a wife, two children, and a farm outside of Tiv - but one day a powerful shadow demon came to town, intent on slaughtering him and his family. His wife's secret celestial powers saved him, at the cost of binding Ado's own soul to the demon's, and locking them both into the barrel he carries everywhere he goes. Ash The seeming last of a tribe of snow-elves, Ash was raised by her mother and father, who both fell to the same illness that they were trying to escape by leaving the rest of their tribe. Ash invented her guns with the help of Baern Balderk, a lone dwarf attempting to build a city of automatons in the Underdark. When disaster struck the fledgling city, Ash fled and has since been wandering, seeking the remnants of her tribe, if they still exist. Alavar A moon-elf with a long story, she was initially raised by drow as a servant, kept out of the slave pits because of her natural talents. Her raiding party was decimated by a group of warriors guided by Silvanus, who took her alive and wiped her memory, hoping to redeem her. She served Silvanus after that, dwelling in his Sanctuary on the plane of Arborea. On her visits to the Material Plane, she unwittingly revealed to a disguised Greenglare the secret to reaching the Sanctuary. He attacked the place, and she was charged by Silvanus to seek the Great Old Ones for aid. Enialis An exile from the College of Bladesingers in the Nolemar, Enialis had his honor somewhat preserved by the members of the party when they appeared at his judgement, sending Thrym to duel the sun-elf so that he could depart without being in complete disgrace. Since then, Enialis has had nowhere else to go, joining the party for their retaking of Minnerthal and their adventures beyond. Thrym Hailing from the village of Wolfswood, this human follower of Ilmater also had a run-in with demonkind; a pack of demons led by his brother assaulted his village, mortally wounding their mentor, ___. Thrym heard the tale from the dying elf, who also told him to seek help and knowledge, giving him an emblem he wore about his neck - a stone disk with a square hole cut in the center, carved with dragons. Guests Kite A tabaxi hailing from the island of Kultaka in Risilia, Kite is the Chief's Kit, and will inherit the position of chief from his father (or mother?) when they feel it their time to step down. He bears a symbol of this, in the form of a polished blue azurite earring known as the Zahirra. General DM Notes Magic Items? * (Thrym) A sentient weapon of some kind * (Ozthus) Some sort of weapon or item with a unique, situational but fairly often used combat ability * (Enialis) Item that allows you to sacrifice AC for more melee damage * (Ash) Something that gives her a useful out-of-combat ability * (Ado) A darker item, one that is morally questionable to use, possibly conflicting with his wife / kids * (Alavar) Items that could be used to great effect, but require concentration * (Elowin) A ring of Luck, or Reliable Talent for one type of check History Feldun It is early autumn. The party, having completed a contract to drive out a roving band of orcs harassing local farmers in the small orchard village of Feldun, goes to claim their reward the following morning. They find their contact does not arrive after a long wait, and decide to investigate. Following a tip from the gossipy local innkeep (named Brunhilde) who tells them she heard the man’s raised voice outside his house the previous night, as well as a scuffle, they investigate his house. They find a plume of smoke and break in to put out the fire and investigate. There was a candle burned down that had lit a doily on fire, which then lit a dresser. The farmer was dead in his office upstairs by the door with a splatter of blood by the window. A note from his wife proclaiming that she was leaving and asking him to come to his senses was found in a bedroom. Another bedroom was very dark and had its windows boarded up, from whence three shadowy creatures attacked. During the attack, Thrym finds and joins the party. The party investigated further and found a basement under some sacks of meal, containing a ledger and six chests: platinum, gold, fancy clothes, fancy trinkets and silverware, jewellery, and one with a false bottom containing only a single green gem about the size of a d10. The gem is trapped, and Ash takes necrotic damage trying to handle it. Elowin takes it and touches it to Lucian’s forehead. Lucian vanishes into the Shadowfell. The ledger contains information describing purchases in Minnerthal, including one from a jeweller. The party comforts Elowin and decides to follow this lead to the city. Minnerthal The party finds rumor and sightings of undead scattered about the highlands on their way up, and encounter some guards patrolling the road who warn them to stay cautious. They make it to the city around 4 or 5 and procure lodging at a tavern in town. Ozthus watches from a corner, semi-conspicuously. They converse with him and eventually agree to let him watch them if he takes them to a jeweller in the morning. After waking up, the party learns little from the jeweller (a dwarf who pronounces that it is from another plane). They make their way to the temple of Sarenrae and meet High Priestess Lilith, who tells them of her vision (darkness, vision sweeps north, sees a barrow, and a green gem that becomes two). They decide to walk towards the monastery while conferring. Sirrion takes the gem from Ash and runs back as stealthily as possible, trying to have them scry with it. Lilith takes it down to the crypt and has her friend paladin scry with it. The others arrive as shadows infiltrate the crypt and attack. The paladin is possessed and a voice speaks through him in haughty tones, telling them they are already doomed. The shadow is expelled and dispatched, and the paladin describes the triumphant mood of the creature possessing him, as well as a vision of a barrow northward. The party take the gem to the monastery to seal away in the vault at the bottom of the monastery. They decide to investigate the Barrow of Sargon to the north. The Barrow of Jarl Sargon The party sets out the following morning after shopping for supplies. They make it to the burial site, finding three barrows set in a small dell, sealed with stone slabs. They open the main barrow and proceed through, finding undead rising from the niches in the walls as they go along. They dispatch the undead and find a gnome asleep in one of the niches, seemingly in a coma. They proceed to the main chamber, whereupon a wight rises from Jarl Sargon’s tomb and engages them. It takes Sirrion’s life and is swiftly dispatched thereafter by Lucian. The party clears the barrow and camps there for the night in grief. Journey to the river Coll The following morning, the party sets out towards the nearest river to send Sirrion off in the customary way for elves. Using Thrym’s knowledge of the land they make their way southeast towards the nearest river. On the way they encounter two zombie ogres and a shadowy figure trailing them. This figure (Ado) engages the ogres with weapons made of shadow, and the party decides to assist. As this happens, Inayra tumbles out of the Astral Sea grappling with a shadowy wolf. The party finishes the fight and questions these two individuals. They then continue to the river. Once there, they find themselves in a mountain forest surrounding the river. They fashion a boat for Sirrion, working after nightfall by magical light, and send him off after piercing his skull to stab his brain. A great blue-white stag watches from downstream on the opposite bank before turning and leaving. The party camps for the night. The Hag’s Wood When the party wakes, Tabitha, Inayra, and Alnon all go to scout through the mist. After they do not return for two hours, the party sets out to look for them. They find themselves at a ring of standing stones, some with lintels, but all marked with carvings in Druidic. After trying to press onwards several times, they keep finding themselves back at the same ring. Ado, Elowin, and Thrym press on again following a trail of wisps while Ozthus, Lucian, and Ash hang back at the stones. The staying party encounters an old woman who calls herself Mother Blackfoot, and appears to be gathering herbs and plants from the forest. Ozthus assists, and she agrees to help them find a way out of the wood. She takes them to her home, an earthen burrow in an embankment, nestled among the large roots of a tree growing over the embankment, and creates a Wardstone for Ozthus. She tells them they must “take care of” her sister before she will do more however. The other party meanwhile uses 50ft of rope marking their passage, following wisps into a gnarled, sinister part of the forest. They fight off a vine blight and Thrym takes an arm from it. They encounter a hut constructed in a tree split by lightning, built rather like an eagle’s nest with a ladder leading up. They negotiate with the hut’s occupant, a woman named Morva who reveals herself as a green hag. She says she can show them many things, including the way out of the wood, but at a price. Thrym makes a deal with her, desiring to see his brother. She takes him inside and offers him his choice of price, and he chooses a piece of his heart, which she takes with an enchanted knife. He sees a vision of a dark hall in the hag’s crystal ball above her cauldron of a dark many-pillared hall attended by many black suits of armor. A throne stands at the end of the hall, and a hooved creature sits in it. The vision shows a figure standing next to the throne, clad in black armor and wearing a helm with horns curving downward and forward, slits cut for eyes and breath; Thrym’s brother. She proceeded to say that the planets were aligning soon and that it might not matter when he was able The party proceeds to attack Morva, killing her and her needle blights easily, but can find no trace of the piece of heart nor the knife used. They make their way back to Mother Blackfoot, Ash holding Morva’s crystal ball. Mother Blackfoot grants them each a wardstone for prices unique to each of them, and at the cost of more of Thrym’s blood grants him insight as to his necklace. She trades three drops of her own blood to Elowin as part of the wardstone deal. Ash is advised to leave the ball, which she does. They all make it out of the forest very quickly after that. Return to the Barrow The party journeys back to the Barrow deciding to continue their search for the second gem. They crack open the sealed Eastern barrow and find a carving depicting the battle of Cel Mephit and describing Jarl Sargon’s role in the war, speaking of a gem sealed deep deep down. The barrow also has a hallway leading to a stair that goes down about 120 feet in eight 20-foot flights corkscrewing down. Alnon casts his vision down but cannot reach the bottom. The party exits while Elowin gets Lucian to hang back and explore down at the bottom of the chamber. At the bottom there is an antechamber that houses a great stone door with the visage of the Jarl carved upon it, on which is written “the Jarl’s Wrath”. A lit torch is placed on either side of the door. An arcane sigil is placed in the center of the door at about head height, protected by a ward. Ozthus notices and is frustrated, but Alnon, Ado, and Thrym go down with Lucian to investigate. They try several things on the door while the party up top sees a dark stormcloud starting to brew over the mountains to the north. Thrym casts light and the seal weakens, then puts out the torches. Ado casts darkness and shadows nearly descend upon them. Thrym puts up an alarm spell and they leave the room dark. They break the supports in the main chamber and collapse it. As they do this they hear four pings in succession of things entering the area, feel a grinding and vibrating of stone underground (the door opening) followed by a fifth ping (four shadows and the Gorgon, which swiftly dispatches all but one shadow). They then feel the approach of something and hear the rubble being broken and cleared. A weakened shadow issues forth from the door, where it is swiftly dispatched. The Gorgon follows and is also dispatched by the party. Thrym hears a sixth and final ping after this. Back to Minnerthal As they decide what to do, a shadow again swallows Inayra and this time Tabitha and Roscoe are pulled along as well. After this, the party decides to check the chamber again. They find a layer of ash near the door, and the door opened. The chamber inside has a dais where the Gorgon once stood, with torches lining the walls (put out now) and a niche that once housed the Eye of Angharad, now empty (taken by the sixth creature, the lieutenant of Nilath). They connect some dots and find that the storm above has passed over them and is now centered over Minnerthal. They begin to journey back with haste, starting at noon and getting there at 5 or 6. On their way they encounter a druid on the road (Alavara) who is also investigating the storm. They all journey together and find a moving dark curtain around the city. Ozthus sees a large shadow flit behind the monastery, and leads the way to the mountainside where they take the better part of an hour climbing up to the path to the monastery. They find the doors open, numerous blade or claw marks on it, and the bars shattered. No bodies inside. As they make their way down to the vault, a young white shadow dragon emerges from a cloud of shadows at the bottom of the monastery’s pit and engages them in combat. The bell of the temple of Sarenrae is heard ringing. Nearing its death, the dragon attempts one last time to take the gem, being blasted back by the last of the Abbot’s power, before attempting to escape. Ash shoots at it and kills it mid-flight as it blasts through a window, sending it careening to land just outside the city walls. As Ozthus checks on the Abbot and the fallen monks at the base of the pit, the others look outside for the dragon’s fall. The abbot says that most of the monks were fighting undead on the walltop, and that they believed the monastery safe enough in his care with a small guard. The Siege of Minnerthal (11/22/16) - The party made its way down to the city in two groups, with Ozthus, Ado, Elowin, and Ash staying behind a bit as the rest made their way quickly to the walls. Once there, they found a tide of undead storming the walls, starting to climb up and piling on each other to reach the battlements. The rest of the party armed up and gathered a few supplies from the monastery. On the walltop, Thrym, Alavar, Lucian, and Alnon went to speak with the lord of the city, Henris Canach, on the main gate. Alavar spied a figure standing by the giant rift that faced the gate far outside the walls, cloaked in shadow. They learned that Lord Canach planned to stay and guard the walls until the last group of citizens was evacuated. The group met up, and decided to guard the gate to the Whitetooth Pass. Ozthus and Thrym went back to the monastery to evacuate the Abbot and the gem there. Meanwhile, Ash went to the walltop to fight, and Lucian went to find her and bring her back. However, as they began to return to the wall, they saw a shadow seeping through the gate before continuing onward at full speed towards the monastery. The whole group began to pursue. A short fight later, during which Thrym, Ozthus, and Abbot Sulimar escaped the monastery through a secret passage in the abbot’s chambers and the remainder of the group fought the wraith-lord and a zombie beholder, the party was re-convened in the monastery main chamber (Thrym went back to help and the abbot and Ozthus continued to the pass) and they decided on what to do next. Category:All Category:Player Characters Category:Player Parties